Dancing on a Tightrope
by Angie947
Summary: This is what happens when superstar Edward Cullen finds out he has a 15 year-old rebellious daughter. Musicianward. ExB
1. in which the principal bitches me out

**Because I'm an idiot, I accidentally deleted the entire story when I tried to update/revise the chapter. So, if you think you're following the story/favoriting/reviewed it before. You haven't anymore. I tried to PM everyone who reviewed to let them know. Sorry! Again, I'm an idiot. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight. **

* * *

_...in which the principal bitches me out_

EPOV

The light from the sun enters my bedroom and abruptly ends my sleep. I roll over, sticky with sweat. I peek open my eyes and look down at my naked body and slowly turn my head to the left. I roll my eyes at myself when I see a naked brunette lying next to me snoring lightly.

"Shit," I whisper. I slowly peel back the blanket and place one leg out of the bed at a time. I pick up a pair of sweatpants lying on the floor and throw them on quickly. I do my best to make a quiet exit by tip toeing to the door and shutting it quietly behind me.

I make my way to the kitchen in hopes that Carla, my housekeeper, has arrived already.

"Carla, Carla, Carla,"

Carla (short, dark hair, and suspicious of everything) whips around, spatula in hand. Yes! She's already started breakfast.

She smiles at me, warm and motherly, even though she's the same age as me. "Buenos dias, Edward."

I smirk at her. "Carla, when are you going to remember I don't speak a lick of Spanish?"

"When you start at least attempting to learn it," She scolds. I pull out a stool from the counter and sit down. "I swear, Edward, if you could memorize phrases as well as you memorize lyrics…"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. When are you feeding me?"

She glares at me. "You know not many people would take your shit, Edward." She says as she hands me her famous hangover cure. I take a sip and sigh.

"Good thing you love me, then." I wink at her. She scoffs and turns back around to the stove. I watch her cook for a few minutes when my phone rings from inside my pocket. I answer a few messages and check my email. By the time I finish Carla has set a plate of scrambled eggs and pancakes in front of me.

I place my phone down quickly and take a huge whiff. I let out a huge grin at the smell. "Carla, marry me, will ya?"

"Never in a million years."

Before I can respond, the brunette from earlier enters the room in my t-shirt and boxers. I will never understand why women feel the need to put on guys clothes the morning after. Like, why can't you just put your own clothes back on instead of wearing my dirty boxers? I roll my eyes and Carla glares at me even harder than before.

"Sorry, honey, I didn't realize I needed to make breakfast for two."

The brunette waltzes over to me and comes within literally 3 inches of my face. "That's okay. I can just share with Edward."

Bitch said what now?

"Actually," I drag out thinking of a quick excuse. "I have to get going pretty soon. Meeting with my manager and all that. You know that goes."

She nods seriously, clearly impressed with my lifestyle.

I continue, "But, I can call you tomorrow and maybe we can hang or whatever?"

"That would be great." She smiles widely. She puts her arms around my neck and kisses my lips. "I had a lot of fun last night, Edward. This is surreal."

"Uh," I try my hardest to remember anything that happened last night as I put my hands on her waist. I came up blank, but I'm sure if sex was involved I had loads of fun. "Me too?"

She giggles and then hops up in order to straddle me. She shoves her tongue into my mouth and lightly sucks my upper lip. She shamelessly (because Carla is clearly still in the room) grinds her crotch against my pelvis. I quickly still her hips because I'm a guy and if she didn't stop her motions I was going to embarrass the hell out of Carla with my boner.

She ends the kiss by placing to smaller ones on both corners of my mouth. And mumbles, "You better call me."

"I most certainly will." I nod.

"Okay," She smiles brightly. She hops off and mumbles something about grabbing her clothes and heading out. I smile and wave and turn back to my food.

I hear Carla sigh loudly. "Edward,"

"Don't,"

She continues as if I hadn't spoken. "Edward, you're 35."

I stuff eggs into my mouth. "I know exactly how old I am, Carla."

"Don't you think it's time for you to start thinking about settling down?"

For someone who's on my payroll, she definitely doesn't fear me at all.

"Hell no."

She frowns at me and places a hand on my arm. "Don't you want to be happy?"

I stiffened, slightly offended by her comment. So, I snapped. "What, like you?"

She drops her arm quickly. "What's that supposed to mean?"

I quickly regret my comment and try to do some backtracking. "Nothing. Just that you know, you tried it and now you're divorced with two kids. Doesn't seem like you're that happy to me, is all."

She takes a step back and I instantly want to punch myself in the face.

"Carla, that wasn't supposed to be… I didn't mean…"

"I think I know exactly what you meant, Edward." She goes back to cleaning the kitchen. "It's okay."

"It's not okay. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

She shrugs. "You don't get it now. You don't get it now and that's okay." She fervently scrubs at the same spot over and over as she keeps repeating that phrase. Whatever she thinks I'm gonna get that's instantly going to change my mind about settling down and starting a family makes me want to roll my eyes.

.

When I think about my life and where I am in the grand scheme of things, I always end up smiling. After many trials and tribulations I finally became the international best-selling artist that I always dreamed I could be. I'd won 7 Grammys and toured all over the globe. I'd made friends in high places and made millions of dollars. People knew me and that feeling was great. It got me all the sex I ever could have needed. I got success. And there's no better feeling.

Sometimes I think back to that moment where I came so close to giving up the possibility of having all this for a girl and I laugh at myself. Thank God, she broke my heart or I never would have known what greatness tasted like.

.

"There's nothing to get, Carla. It's not for me. I just want to have sex and have fun." And then as a side note I add, "And make music."

Carla shakes her head and whispers to herself again. "You just don't get it now." And then a lot louder and fiercer she says, "But, could you please refrain from insulting me and my way of life while you're figuring it out." And then she stomps out of the room.

I place my head in my hands and let out a huge breath of air. Why am I such an asshole?

.

.

BPOV.

"She's irresponsible. She's _lazy_. She lacks motivation. She doesn't demonstrate any type of effort whatsoever. She's disruptive. She's hostile. She's – I mean – I could go on, but I'm sure you are already aware of these terrible traits." When I nod the dark-skinned woman licks her lips and pulls at the collar of her blazer and I do everything in my power to keep from cringing in fear. She folds her hands on the table and looks directly into my eyes. "Miss Swan, here at Forks Prep we do not condone this kind of behavior from anyone, especially those whose families don't regularly donate back to the school."

If it were possible for me to turn any redder, I'm sure that I would have. I wrung my hands and did everything in my power not to burst into tears. I am an adult, of course. I am not going to sit in the principal's office and cry my way out of a mess. And, it's not like I'm the one in trouble here; although it certainly feels like it.

.

When I pictured where I would be when I turned 35, I never pictured the fuckery which I call my life. I never pictured being in a long-term on-again-off-again relationship, I never pictured being a single mother of a 15-year-old brat, and I never pictured sitting in a principal's office being chewed alive by possibly the rudest woman to have ever lived.

Life has a way of repeatedly throwing curveballs at me, especially when I'm in the process of figuring out where the hell I put my bat in the first place.

.

"I'm so sorry, Mrs. Patterson. I think –" I sigh and run a hand through my hair. What excuse can I pull out of my ass today? "I think Rose is going through a bit of a phase."

Mrs. Patterson folds her arms, leans back and glares. "Teenagers go through phases all the time, Miss Swan. I will not allow that to be an excuse. Forks Prep does not educate delinquents."

My eyes involuntarily tear up. "She's not a delinquent, Mrs. Patterson. She's a child! She doesn't know any better."

"Fifteen is more than old enough to know right from wrong. No wonder she acts like this, if this is the kind of discipline she has to look forward to at home!"

Quickly my emotions shift from embarrassed to anger. I cross my arms across my chest. "Excuse me, Mrs. Patterson, but are you trying to tell me how to raise my child?"

Mrs. Patterson remains quiet for a few seconds and then says quietly. "Forks Prep doesn't often accept students from… uh, your socio-economic status. We were going out on a limb here because of your good references, but we will not have any students ruining our reputation. If Rosalie does not want to be here, she does not have to be."

My fingers begin shaking and I stutter out, "She's angry. At everyone. At the world. But, really just at me. And, I don't know how – I mean… I guess I just don't know what I'm doing."

Mrs. Patterson sighs and clicks her tongue three times. "I understand it must be difficult raising a daughter on your own, Miss Swan, especially a teenager. If it weren't for Rose's high test scores, I would have no problem expelling her. But, clearly, she is very bright." I try to keep hope from spreading to my eyes but it sounds like we're almost in the clear. "One more chance, Miss Swan. _One_."

I breathe out a huge sigh of relief and place my hands over my heart. "Thank you so much, Mrs. Patterson. I promise this won't happen again. You won't regret this."

"I'm sure I will." She frowns and holds her hand out to the door.

And, I guess that's my cue to leave.

.

Rosalie is a beautiful young woman, but she's also a bitch. As her mother I can say this because it goes without saying that I love her more than any other human being on the entire planet. Facts are facts though. I don't know where she learned this behavior. I've been nothing but loving towards her since she was born. Unfortunately, since I had her at the ripe old age of 19 our closeness in age has made our relationship more of a friendship than anything else.

Rosalie is also intelligent. Sometimes I just sit and wonder how much smarter she could be if she actually gave two-shits about anything other than her guitar. Her test scores are extremely high; however, never turning in homework or participating in group projects illustrates the lack of A's and B's on her transcripts. Rosalie hides behind her beauty. She often uses it as an excuse to not have to try as hard.

.

I walk outside the school and see Rose sitting on a bench with her head in her hands.

"Car." I spit out and walk over to my red truck, get in and slam the door closed. She enters the car a couple seconds later and I glare daggers at her.

"I _thought_ we were passed this."

Rose shrugs and continues staring out the window. I look down at her uniform which is disheveled and stained with what looks to be spaghetti sauce and groan loudly.

"Great! Looks like I'll have to buy you another uniform, too, _again_." I roll my eyes. "Rose, I don't have the money for this."

"You don't have the money for anything." She says snidely.

"Rose – "

"What was I supposed to do, mom?" Her eyes blazing as she turns red with renewed anger. I pull out of the parking lot. "Let him keep talking shit about me?"

"No, but you didn't have to vandalize his car."

"He's lucky I didn't saw off his dick."

"Rosalie!" I grabbed her arm over the console. "You cuss one more time and you're grounded for a year."

"Oh no! What are you gonna do? Take my laptop away? My car?" She hisses. "Oh wait, you can't do that because I don't have any of those things!"

I clench my teeth together in an effort to hide the hurt. I whisper out, "This is because I don't make a lot of money."

She groans loudly, "It's not because you don't make a lot of money."

I look at her incredulously. "Then what is this about?"

"He called me a slut, mom!"

My heart slams in my chest and my vision becomes blurry. "Were you… are you sleeping around Rosalie?"

She gasps loudly. "That is the complete wrong question. I cannot even believe you would ask me that!"

"Well, I don't know what to expect from you anymore, Rosalie. You don't follow anyone's rules. You're out at all hours of the night. You don't consider mine or anyone else's feelings when you make a decision – "

"You're supposed to be on my side, mom." She runs her hands through her hair wildly and yells, "You're supposed to be the one person who's on my side no matter what!"

"And what side is that Rosalie? Because I honestly have no idea who you are anymore. I just sat there and got chewed out by your principal telling me about this girl whose horrible and mean and I didn't recognize that person. So tell me again exactly what side I'm supposed to be on?"

Rose stiffens and becomes very still in the seat next to me. She doesn't speak for a few seconds but then says darkly, "Well, I'm sorry if I have to do things differently than everyone else at Forks Prep who gets handed everything on a shiny fucking platter. Maybe if we weren't broke I wouldn't have to act the way I do in order to get some goddamn respect. I'm not just going to let people walk over me like you do, mom. At least I respect _myself_. Maybe I wouldn't have to work after school in order to pay for my fucking cheerleading uniform and to be able to hang out at the mall with my friends - "

"Do you know how expensive Forks Prep is? I can't pay for those things because I'm paying to give you the best education!"

"I don't have to have the best education, mom. Not if I have to be made fun of and treated differently because I don't have a BMW sitting in my driveway or work my ass off just to be able to afford a fucking homecoming dress. It's not worth it to me." She finally turns to look back at me as I turn into out apartment complex. "I want to sing."

"Rose-"

"Don't, mom. Just _don't_." She continues. "I don't feel like having my dreams crushed again this week."

"I work so hard for you to go to a great school. I'm not saying you aren't talented, baby. You are. Singing just isn't a practical career."

She rolls her eyes. "You mean, like, being a secretary?"

I clench my teeth. "_Executive_ assistant, Rosalie. And watch your tone."

She continues as if she doesn't hear me, "Just because you didn't believe in yourself and you let your dreams go, doesn't mean you have to keep me from achieving mine. Maybe you felt like you couldn't escape this life, but small town life just isn't for me, mom. I'm not like you. I believe in myself and I want to accomplish things."

It's a good thing we're parked because if we weren't I probably would have smashed the car into the nearest object. I never knew that was how she felt about me and all the things I had given up for her. My eyes watered and I turn away from her. It's one thing to hear negative things about yourself from peers or boyfriends. It's quite another to hear it from your daughter.

I clear my throat and muster up every ounce of dignity I have left and mutter, "You're smart, Rosalie. You really are. And, all I want is what's best for you. Without a scholarship, I'm not going to be able to send you to the college you deserve to go to.

"I know you resent me. I know you wish you could have a car or a pretty house or a sweet sixteen birthday party, but I am doing the very best that I can and I just wish you could see that."

I open the door and swiftly exit. Because I'm a grown ass woman and I refuse to let my daughter make me cry.

.

Later that night as I lay in bed, my phone rings alerting that I have been sent a text message. I roll over toward my nightstand and pick it up. It's from Rose.

_I'm sorry I made you cry. _

I respond:

_I know. _

A few seconds later there's a quick knock on my door before it opens. I know who it is so I don't turn around. Rose walks through the door and crawls in my bed, hugging me from behind. She tightens her arms around me and I can tell that she's sorry. She's strong willed and moody, but she's still my baby girl. Sometimes I don't recognize her. Days go by and I wonder how she became this headstrong teenager with a dirty mouth and a bad attitude and if I could have done something to prevent it.

"I love you, Mom."

I sigh and hug her arms to my body. "I love you, too, my Rose." I close my eyes and add, "But sometimes you drive me crazy."

She giggles.

"It's you and me against the world, right?" She asks repeating the mantra I've been telling her since before she could speak.

I tighten my hold on her. "You and me against the world."

And sometimes, she's still the sweet little girl who I gave up my whole world for.

* * *

**Annnddd, I bet you can tell where this one's headed. **

**I searched around and I couldn't find any ExB stories where Edward finds a long lost teenager it's always a little boy or a little girl. So, I thought I'd give this a try. Hopefully, it's not an epic fail. **

**My "Musicianward" is kind of a cross between Robin Thicke and Justin Timberlake. If you haven't heard either of the two stop reading this right now and please direct yourself to youtube for some life changing experiences. lol**

**Also, I'm looking for a new beta. If you're interested please drop me a line. **

**Lastly, reviewers get teasers.**

**Angie :)**


	2. in which I want to strangle my mother

**I own these really cool pair of chucks that I'm currently sporting. But, not Twilight, unfortunately. **

* * *

_...in which I want to strangle my mother_

EPOV.

"Well, what time do I need to pick you up again, sweetie?"

"Mom, I'm perfectly capable of getting myself a ride from the airport. You don't need to drive all out of the way." I complain while I watch Carla pack my suitcase. She holds up a suit jacket and I shake my head. I won't be needing anything that fancy in Seattle.

"Honey, let me fawn over you. It's not everyday my son comes to visit Seattle just to see me. I feel like I won the lottery." She chirps happily in the phone even though it must be around 3:30 in the morning where she is.

Her statement makes me feel terrible. The last time I came to Seattle without a concert, PR scheme, or some other great agenda I couldn't even remember. It must have been years. This was a very last minute decision as it was. I accidentally made the mistake of mentioning to my sister that I didn't have anything to do for the next week and the next thing I know my mother has booked me a flight home and isn't accepting no as an answer.

Finally, I concede. "You can pick me up at noon your time."

Carla holds up three pairs of t-shirts and I give her a thumbs up.

"Noon. Got it." She says. "I'm so excited! Oh, it's April remember so it'll be a little rainy! Bring a jacket!"

Rainy in Seattle? Who would have thought?

I look over at Carla. "Carla, could you – "

"I heard her." She says shortly. It wasn't rude or anything but it wasn't in her super ultra friendly way it normally was. She's still mad at me from earlier this week when I accidentally told her that her life, to put it plainly, was shit and that she wasn't very happy from my perspective. Which, admittedly, was stupid to say especially since I consider Carla one of my closest friends. I'm probably going to have to give her a huge birthday bonus this year. When was her birthday again?

"Edward, are you even listening?" My mother screams into the phone.

I flinch slightly. "Sorry, Ma. What's up?"

She huffs loudly. "I swear sometimes you think you're life is so much more important than everyone else's. Just because you're a celebrity doesn't give you an excuse to treat people like shit."

I roll my eyes and wait a few seconds. She was the pushing me to follow my dreams and become this huge celebrity. Mom could be a bit delusional and controlling at times, but I knew it was only because she wanted what was best for me.

"I was trying to tell you that Alice and her family are coming down as well and we're gonna have ourselves a nice little family reunion."

I rub my temples and let out a sarcastic, "Yayy!"

Mom huffs out again and says, "Goodbye, Edward. See you at noon."

"Bye mom."

I hang up my phone and place it in my pocket. Carla zips up my suitcase and I walk over and kiss her cheek and walk into the bathroom.

As I dig around for my travel toothbrush and hair products Carla yells, "I hadn't realized that you were leaving so soon. I think that little Emmett shit was planning on coming over to work on his guitar with you."

I groaned inwardly. Don't get me wrong. I love the kid. He's the son of my stylist and he has a great talent with the guitar and I've sort of taken him under my wing. With a little more work, he has the makings of becoming a great guitarist one day. He's a good kid, too. Goes through girlfriends like underwear, but who am I to judge?

I call out, "Yeah, that's not gonna work today. I'm leavin' in like 30."

"Yeah, I can have your manager call him and let him know."

I walk back into the room as she's setting my suitcase down on the ground.

"Nah, that's okay. I'll text him on my way." I wait for her to look up at me and when she does she frowns.

"What?"

I place my hands on her shoulders. "We good?"

She steps back from me and picks at her clothing. "Don't worry about it, Edward. I've already forgotten about it."

She walks away. She's forgiven me, but I still feel like shit. I need to shake this feeling off.

Maybe I'll double her bonus. Just in case.

.

BPOV

"What I don't understand," Rosalie puts another spoonful of cereal in her mouth and swallows as I open the refrigerator to find something to take to work for lunch. "is why you don't just bone Uncle J? He's totally available now and I know for a fact that he wants in your pants."

She smacks my butt and I roll my eyes and continue packing my lunch for work. Apple. Where are the apples? "Rose, that's disgusting. Jake's my best friend. Basically my brother. I could never –"

"Mom," Rosalie sighs dejectedly. "You're not understanding me. Uncle J is hot, like extremely, and so are you most days –"

"Gee, thanks!" I grab an apple out of the fridge and place it in my brown paper bag. This is maybe the eightieth time we have had this same conversation. "And, he just finalized his divorce, like, what? Last week?"

"You guys would make me the cutest little brothers and sisters! All tan and what-not. They would be so pretty!" Without any encouragement from me, Rose continues, "I just thought for sure that when Uncle J broke up with Aunt Leah and you had just broken up with Douchebag Mike again, whose just –" She sticks her finger in her mouth and mimes making her self puke. "_awful_, that you guys were totally gonna get together! It just makes sense! It's so obvious that he loves you!"

Her feelings for Mike, my on-again off-again (more off than on lately) boyfriend, have always been very clear. I don't admonish her for her "douchebag" comment because at the moment I believe the same thing. Rose loves Jake. So many of her mannerisms are totally and completely his fault. For instance, I blame her potty mouth on him. He had a big help in raising Rosalie with me, especially before he got married to Leah Clearwater, a girl from the reservation he lived on as a kid. I finally finish making my lunch and fold the top of the brown paper bag over.

"Well, yeah, Rose, we've been best friends for our entire lives."

She glares at me, "That's obvi not what I meant."

I roll my eyes at her new favorite thing: cutting off words. It makes me cringe. I walk over to the table with a dishtowel and start wiping up the mess she made on the table. I wipe up the milk she spilled around her bowl as she continues telling me why I need to become _girlfriend and boyfriend_ with my best friend.

"I mean, mom, you're always so happy with Uncle J. I just want to see you happy more. You barely ever smile except when he's around. Just do it. He could be the love of your life!" Rose exclaims, shoving another spoonful in her mouth.

I grab her chin and place a kiss on her forehead. "Honey, _you_ are the only love of my life." I let her go and drop the towel in the sink.

Rose says grumpily, "Yeah, besides this invisible father of mine that you refuse to ever speak of."

"Okay, Rosalie, time for school! Your ride should be here soon." I rush out, ending the conversation. Great. Now I'm officially in a terrible mood for the rest of the day. I hadn't thought of him in days. "Finish up your cereal and put it in the sink."

Rosalie slurps the rest of her milk by tipping the bowl toward her mouth and then jumps up and places her bowl and spoon in the sink. She walks toward me, kisses my cheek and yells out, "It's not that hard to be happy, Mom. You just make it so difficult." on her way out.

I yell back as she walks further away from the kitchen, "So glad I have you to brighten my mornings!"

"Love you, too!" She screams and then adds, "Oh, I have a school project I have to finish at Jessica's tonight!"

I wipe down the table where she was eating and remind, "Um, you're grounded!"

"Mom," She pokes her head back into the kitchen. "Do you want me to do well in school or not? You're giving me whiplash."

I roll my eyes. "Fine. Be home by eleven."

She smiles, blows me a kiss, and runs out of the apartment.

"Eleven! I mean it!"

Who raised this insolent girl?

.

EPOV

I was in need of a desperate break from my family so I ran out of the house the very moment I could. After the lovely reunion with my crazy sister and her crazy children and the incessant poking and prodding from my mother, I just needed to take a break. I ventured into an old record store I had never seen before and began looking around. Fortunately, I didn't believe anyone would recognize me as I had pulled my baseball cap down low over my eyes and was wearing my sunglasses indoors.

I venture over to the classic rock section and flip through their selection. I nod to myself in agreement with the good choices of this specific record store. It's hard to find good music on vinyl these days. I was looking through their extensive collection of guitar picks when I heard loud yelling coming through the "employees only" door.

A female voice fired back. "Look, Laur. I understand, okay? But I don't make the rules."

I heard a deep sigh and then a deep voice responds, "You're killing me. You are actually killing me."

She's quiet for a long time and then she says quietly, "Look. You didn't hear this from me, but I'm telling you only 'cause I love you and this is basically Rosalie's second home."

She's quiet for a minute and I turn toward the door in anticipation of the secret, dropping the handful of picks I had in my hand.

She continues, "If your store doesn't start making more money, Aro's considering shutting this place down."

He gasps loudly and I hear something smash against a wall. Damn, I hope he didn't hit her.

"What am I supposed to with that, Bella? Are you fucking shitting me?!"

She says quietly, "No."

Bella? Oh my god. Bella! The reason I'd avoided Seattle for so many years. What are the odds that I would run into her now? After all this time? I tried desperately to fit that name with the voice that used to be etched in my memory for what I thought was a lifetime. But, it had been too long. This voice was more mature than I remembered, more self-assured.

"Bella, come on! Can't you do something? You're basically Aro's right hand! How could you not do everything in your power to make sure I don't close?" He screamed at her. From the beginning of the conversation it sounded like maybe they were friends, now I wasn't so sure.

"What the fuck do you think I'm doing here, Lau – watch it!"

There was another loud crash and I couldn't take it anymore. I was sure that this belligerent fool was seconds away from hurting her. I step up to the door fully, open the door, and look at the scene before me: Bella backed into a corner, paper and glass shatter at her feet, and a tall man across the room seething with his fists clenched.

And I froze. This Bella was my Bella. I mean, this Bella was Bella Swan – not _my_ Bella, obviously. Just the Bella Swan who was the love of my life and the breaker of my heart all wrapped in one.

I cleared my throat to get their attention. "Is everything okay in here?"

She nodded curtly but didn't look at me longer than for a second. "We're fine, sir. Just business."

"Sounded like some pretty violent business from where I was standing."

She looks back at me swiftly, narrows her eyes at me, as if she's trying to place me, shakes her head and quickly looks back at Laurent.

"Anyway. Laurent, you have 60 days."

The tall man's anger returns. "Sixty days!"

"Take it or well… Lose your store?" She shrugs her shoulders at him and turns toward me. She waves her hand at the door I was holding open and says, "Shall we?"

I nod, following her out of the back room. I follow her to the poster section and she lets out a large huff. She says sincerely, "Thanks for giving me an out back there."

"Tough job?" I quietly ask her, still in shock that I'm seeing her after all this time.

She lets out a quick, harsh laugh. "Tough life." She jokes – at least I hope she's joking. Her statement sounded kind of bitter.

I wait for her to elaborate and she goes, "Aro, my boss, makes me do all his dirty work." She thumbs through the different posters. I see a picture of myself and cringe as she quickly flips to the next one. "And my daughter is a nightmare."

My eyes widen. I didn't think it were possible for my heart to break anymore than it had 16 years ago, but here I was, clutching at my chest at the idea of Bella having sex with someone who wasn't me, being married to someone else, loving someone else…

"You have a daughter?"

She raises an eyebrow at my accusing and bewildered tone and I try again.

"So, you have a daughter."

She laughs and her face lights up with a beautiful smile I assume is due to the thought of her daughter. "Yeah, she's handful."

"You love her a lot." I comment, pointing at her cheeks. "I can see it all over your face."

She looks up at me and squints, but since I'm wearing a baseball cap pulled low and dark tinted sunglasses, she can't see anything.

"Of course, I do." She smiles and declares. "She's the love of my life."

Regrettably, I remembered when that title was reserved for me. I take a quick look down at her left hand and take notice of her empty ring finger. The sight made me irrationally happy, especially since this was a girl who had broken my heart. However, I didn't want our time to end.

"Have coffee with me."

She blances and her eyes widen. "What? I'm working." I look down at the posters in her hand and raise an eyebrow at her. She rolls her eyes and sets them down. "Well, I _was_!"

"Then tomorrow. At that small Starbucks around the corner from here. Same time, same – "

"OH MY GOD! You're EDWARD CULLEN!?"

I inwardly cringe as I look over at the young woman, probably around the age of 19, who had just finished screaming my name throughout the shop. She whips toward her friend in the front of the store, points and screams, "It's _EDWARD CULLEN_!"

All of a sudden, I'm swarmed by teenage girls and young women screaming my name, asking for my autograph, and snapping picture after picture on their iPhones. I swing around to look for Bella who apparently got pushed all the way to the back of the crowd. I finally find her eyes and she's just staring at me, eyes filled with such shock and anger.

I call out, "Bella, I – " She either doesn't hear me or seriously dislikes me because she's turning away and walking out the door.

I whip off my hat and glasses – because honestly, they're pretty much pointless at this point – and chase after her. I finally wrestle my way away from the crowd – after posing for at least 4 pictures and sloppily signing at least 6 t-shirts.

Somehow she's still walking in the parking lot when I make my way outside. I know I don't have long before paparazzi and hundreds of people who got word of my appearance find me.

"Bella, wait!"

She looks over at me, keeps walking, and shouts out, "Hell no!"

I finally catch up to her and grab her arm to stop her from moving. "Wait, why are you mad at me? I should be mad." She doesn't answer and we just stare at each other silently for a few seconds. "You look different."

Her eyes start watering. She replies softly, "I am different."

I investigate her appearance.

"You're too thin."

She swallows thickly and argues, "I never have time to eat."

I narrow my eyes at her. "You look stressed out."

"I have so much to stress about."

I drop my hold from her wrist to grasp her hand. "You're still beautiful."

"Edward," She tries to let go of my hand, but I hold on tightly. And suddenly, it's like I didn't care that this woman had so brutally broken my heart or that she has a daughter or even that I hadn't seen in her in the past 16 years, I wanted her again. I wanted explanations and answers. And, I wanted to kiss her. I wanted to more-than-kiss her. I wanted things. And, that freaked the hell out of me. With my other hand, I grab her phone from her pocket and dial my number, storing her number into my phone and mine into hers.

"Tomorrow. Starbucks. Don't stand me up." She looks hesitant and I cup her face. Damn, the things she still does to me. She opens her mouth – most likely to reject the offer – and I cover her mouth with my hand. "You owe me."

She freezes and then nods slowly. "Okay."

I smile. "Okay."

.

When I get back home, I have a slight pep in my step. I know this because my mother points it out.

"What has you in such a good mood? Is it the mere presence of your lovely mother?"

I kiss her cheek and sit down on the counter across from where she's cooking at the stove with Alice.

"You'll never guess who I ran into today."

Alice rolls her eyes, already bored with my story. She's repeatedly telling me how she's sick of hearing my – and I quote – "Awesome Famous People Stories".

My mother continues stirring the pot in front of her. "Who, dear?"

"Bella Swan." I say conversationally.

Alice freezes, her eyes widening to the size of saucers and somehow, my mother spills all the contents of the pot she was stirring onto the eye and starts letting out a stream of curse words. Alice doesn't bend down to help her. Her face just turns all red and she just starts hopping from foot to foot. She's so fucking weird.

"Jeeze, Mom." I bend down and grab a dishcloth to help her quickly wipe it off before it burns or catches on fire.

"Bella Swan? What do you – I mean, how – Seattle is so _big_, what are the odds?"

"I know." I say in disbelief. I drop the towel into the sink and lean back against it. "I can't quite believe it myself. We're catching up for coffee tomorrow."

Currently, Alice is about to bite her lip off, which is odd because she was never one to hold things in. I glare at her oddly because she's annoying me with her little jig.

"Do you have to pee or something?" I ask her.

"No," She says quickly and turns back to chopping tomatoes.

I roll my eyes. "You're such a fucking weirdo."

She flips me the bird and my mother repeats, "Bella Swan? Why would you want to meet up with her? She broke your heart. Into, like, a million pieces! You didn't touch Seattle for a full three years after that mess!"

My good mood officially deflated, I glare at her. "Thanks for the reminder, mom."

"You were so broken. I don't ever want to see you like that ever again. How could you want to – "

"Okay, I'm sorry," I stand up straight and start walking toward the door. "I think maybe when I brought this topic up that I somehow, accidentally, made it seem like this was some kind of discussion where other members of the conversation were free to insert their opinions or feelings or whatnot. I just want to make it clear that this is not. A discussion, I mean."

She huffs out, "Edward, this is stupid. You don't need Bella Swan back in your life. She only ever held you back."

I freeze and turn around in the doorway. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Alice is sitting there chewing on her nails and wobbling from foot to foot.

"Nothing. It means, nothing. I'm just saying – "

I let out a large sigh. "UGH! This is why I never come home! I can't do this _judgy_ thing that you do all the time. It drives me crazy!"

"I'm not being _judgy_! I'm just – "

"'Judgy' is your middle name, mom. I need a break. I'm going out."

I hear her sigh loudly behind me and walk straight back out the way I had literally just come in minutes earlier.

.

I end up at Blue Lagoon, a small little café that has live music. I used to sing her a lot when I was first trying to make it big. Because of this I had a great relationship with the owner, Manny.

I sat down in the back, sipping on my beer as I watched performer after performer of undiscovered talent (or not so talented) sing just for the joy of singing, not for crowds or for money or for fame or fortune. Just for the love of music. I forgot how good that felt.

About an hour into my visit, Manny comes over to me and sits down.

I tip my beer at him. "Manny."

"Ed." He slaps me on the back. "Long time no see."

I give a quick laugh. "Nice crowd tonight."

He looks around smugly and proud. "Yeah, it is. _And_ it's only a Tuesday night."

I laugh and look back up at the stage. Somehow I missed the previous performer's ending as a new performer, a young blonde teenager was setting up and getting ready to begin. I cringed as I prepared myself for some really 'poppy' bright and sunshiny song.

"Oh boy," I let out and take another sip.

Manny laughs and says, "Nah, she's not like that. She's actually pretty great."

"Yeah?" I say, intrigued that she actually has the approval of Manny since it wasn't easy to come by. "Great?"

"Yeah. I mean, she's young and she's got a lot to learn, you know, the passion is all there." He looks at the stage and then back at me. "Actually, she reminds me a lot of you."

I consider this as she announces the song she's about to sing. The minute she opens her mouth to sing, I knew Manny was on to something. To say I was impressed would be a serious understatement. She was really good. She had a very soulful Amy Winehouse mixed with a sassy Adele thing going on, which surprised me because she looked like a Christina Aguilera wannabe. She was a beautiful girl with a beautiful, unique voice and I _knew_ I just had to give her a chance or at least give her a few pointers in the right direction.

"Hey, can you have her meet me in your office after she's done?"

Manny gives me a disapproving look. "Nah. Come on, man. I mean, I know she's gorgeous, but she's only 15. She's a great girl. I'm not gonna – "

I hold up my hands to quickly stop his thought process. I feel my cheeks turn bright red. "No, no. You misunderstood me. I just want to talk to her." He continues looking at me suspiciously. I don't blame him. A lot of really creepy shit happens in the music industry and I'm not proud of some of the shit I allowed myself to get involved in. I add slowly, "About her singing. I promise."

"Fine."

Half an hour later, I'm waiting inside Manny's office, sitting at his desk waiting, when Manny finally opens the door and ushers her in.

"I want to introduce you to someone, honey." She looks a little put out but when she looks up and sees me standing there her eyes grow huge. There seems to be some kind of internal battle going on inside her as a plethora of emotions fly across her face.

I laugh and hold out my hand, "Edward Cullen."

"Holy fucking shit!" She lets out in a squeak. Her eyes water and her cheeks turn bright red. "This isn't real. You're supposed to be on a poster on my wall not standing right in fucking front of me. Oh my god!"

I laugh as I imagine the kind of parents she must have that fashioned this beautiful teenager who looked like a pop star, sang like a soulstress and had the mouth of a sailor.

"Your name?" I goad.

"Rose," She shoves her hand into mine that had been waiting there for a few minutes. Her confidence shocks me. Despite the quick moment of disbelief, she's not fawning over me or trying to seduce me at all.

"Rose?" I scrunch my face up. "That your stage name?" Rose was so far from what I would use to describe this girl in front of me.

She crosses her arms in front of her chest. "That's my actual name."

"My apologies." I pat her on the shoulder. "It's an interesting name."

"Yeah, well," She finally unfolds her arms and lets a few walls down. "My mother has an interesting sense of humor."

I laugh with her. "Listen, Rose. I think you're great."

Pride fills her face and she smiles broadly. "Thank you. You have no idea how much that means to me."

"You know, I think I do." I point to an empty chair and she takes a seat. "I used to sing here back when I was your age. I remember at some point thinking this was as far as I was ever going to go and all it took was someone telling me that they thought I had real potential for me to gain any confidence in myself. So, I just wanted to let you know that I think you have a lot of potential. I have never heard anyone with your voice before."

She looks like she is about to explode with excitement. It causes me to smile. I dig in my pocket and pull out my wallet. I fish inside and pull out a business card. "Here. This is my manager's card. If you're ever in New York, I'd love to help you. Maybe I can point you in the right direction of a few people."

She reaches out with a shaky hand and grabs it. "Is this a joke?"

"Hundred percent serious." I think about her age and wonder if maybe this was a good idea. Getting into this business young always changes people.

"Oh my god." She looks down at the card like I've just given her the last drop of water available in the middle of the Sahara Desert. "This is in no way happening right now."

I laugh and stand up. "Well, just ask that hilarious mother of yours if you guys can make a quick trip across the country and we'll see where that voice takes you, okay?"

Her face suddenly falls. Her eyes water slightly. "My mother will never let me go to New York. Especially for my music. Shit."

"Well," I shrug and walk toward the door. "It doesn't hurt to try. You have some serious talent, Rose."

"Swan." She says quietly.

I stop walking abruptly. "Excuse me?"

"Rose Swan." She looks over at me and sighs. "That's my name." She walks over to me and touches my arm. "Thanks again so much for this opportunity, Mr. Cullen. You have no idea what this means to me. I'll definitely be giving him a call."

She walks out of the room under my arm, which has frozen and can't move because I think I might be in shock. My mouth drops and nothing comes out. My mind stays frozen and I can't think of anything else other than Bella and roses and swans.

.

_She's laughing as I drag her to our meadow, hiding her present from her view. I lay her down in the bed of flowers and lie on top of her. _

_She laughs again, "Ah! Babe, you're too heavy!" _

"_Oh sorry," I mumble quickly. I begin to get up and she screams out, grabbing my shoulders and deliberately pressing my chest firmly against her breasts. "NO! I hate it when you're not on top of me." _

_I rest my arm above her head, leaning against it in order to take some of the weight off of her. I smirk down at her and say darkly, "Oh, you do, do you?" _

_She giggles and squeaks out, "Yes." _

_I run my hands up her body, which bunches up her dress. I grab her breast firmly in my hand as I kiss her neck. She moans softly as I hand her what was behind my back. She smiles as she reaches her hand up to take the flower. I suck her earlobe into my mouth and whisper, "A rose for my swan." _

_She smiles, pulls her face back and kisses my mouth. "I'm your rose?" _

_I push her hair out of her face and cup her cheeks, my lips never leaving her body. "You're my rose." I kiss her cheek. "And my swan." I kiss eyelid. "And my Bella." I kiss the spot right above her heart. "And my everything." _

_I bring my face back up to hers and she's smiling brightly. And, we're teenagers and we have no worries. And, she's beautiful and she's under me. This is probably one of the greatest things that could ever happen to a teenage boy. She sniffs the rose and then wraps her hands around my neck. "You're my everything, too." _

.

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**What's your most embarrassing encounter with an ex? **

**Also, as per usual, reviewers get teasers! Angie :)  
**


	3. in which my daughter tries to bribe me

**some of you told me you weren't able to read chapter 3. So, I deleted it and added it again. Hopefully this helps!  
**

* * *

EPOV.

"That bitch! That. _Bitch_!" I paced back and forth livid. I was feeling so many emotions at once (frustration, anger, humiliation, hurt) that I wasn't sure which one should take precedence. Right now, anger was winning. "How could she do this to me? How could she – I mean, why would she – A _daughter_!"

"Edward, calm down." Jasper, who was currently on the other side of the phone listening to me vent, interrupted me calmly.

"Calm down? Jazz, there's a very good chance that I have a daughter that I was never _ever_ informed of. Do you not understand what the problem is here? How could Bella do this to me? I – I – " I clenched my fists. "It's so _selfish_."

It's quiet for a minute before I heard Jasper sigh. "Out of all the Swans in all the world you're _positive_ this one belongs to Bella?"

"Yes. I ran into her yesterday. She said something about having a daughter. I was expecting it to be some 4, 5, maybe six year old girl – not this-this almost adult!"

Jasper clicked his tongue and sighed again. He began slowly, "Edward,"

"Yeah?"

"Can you be sure," He made a loud sound and mumbled 'shit' after a loud bang. He apologized and continued, "Can you be sure she's yours? Your kid?"

"- The _fuck_ are you trying to say, Jazz?" I felt myself beginning to seethe. "Rose was at least 15 or 16 years old. She broke up with me about 16 years ago. Do the math."

"Yeah, that's all fine, Edward." He huffed loudly, apparently annoyed at our conversation. "But what I'm _saying_ is that if this Bella woman suddenly broke up with you out of nowhere all those years ago and now has a 15 year old kid. I'm saying it's probable to assume that that baby is yours but it is _also_ probable to assume that she got pregnant by some other fool and was too ashamed to tell you that you weren't her _baby daddy _and dumped your cocky ass."

Quietly, I digested that for a moment. I thought back to Rose's appearance. Did she even look like me? I couldn't remember. She had very blonde hair. Neither Bella nor I had blonde hair. So, did she fuck some random blonde dude while we were together? But, then again, teenagers dye their hair a lot. She was strikingly beautiful. Bella was beautiful. I couldn't remember the color of her eyes. I had a feeling they weren't green or I would've remembered. You don't see green eyes everywhere, especially not ones as green as my own.

"Shit," I let out. I swallowed and sat down on the edge of my bed. I placed my head in my hands and tapped my foot a couple hundred times. Involuntarily, my eyes started watering. I shake my head back and forth roughly and cough a couple times.

"Well," I cough again to rid my voice of tears. "Either way, she's a bitch."

"Agreed." He said. "Listen, Ed. I'm recording right now and I gotta jump back in the booth. I'd love to stick around for your pity party over something that happened almost 2 decades ago buutttt…"

"Fuck you," I laughed. He was always a sarcastic motherfucker. "God, I wish I could be in the booth right now."

"Dude, you have an opportune moment to write some amazing lyrics right now. So, you know, maybe channel all this negative energy you have going on right now into that instead of, like, you know, complaining to me about it?"

I rolled my eyes and ran a hand through my hair. "I hate you."

"Love you, too, bro!" He laughed. "Gotta go!" And, he hung up.

I set my phone down and pinched my nose with my fingers. I felt like I hadn't been able to relax since I met Rose. I looked at my clock on my nightstand. It was 11:30 p.m. I had been stressing about this for well over seven hours. I needed to get some sleep, relax my mind, and confront the hell out of her tomorrow when we met up.

Instead I sat up grabbed my laptop and pulled up Facebook.

Suddenly, I heard behind me, "Who's Rose Swan?"

I rolled my eyes as my sister nosily plopped herself down on my bed, peering over my shoulder at my laptop. "Just this girl."

She squealed. "A girl_friend_?"

I scrunched up my face and shook my head vigorously. "Not even close." I scrolled down the long list of people who's Facebook name was Rose Swan. "Shit. I can't find her anywhere."

Alice let out a quick snort. "Well, that's 'cause you're totally doing it wrong."

I looked over at her sharply and glared. "What the hell are you talking about?"

She grabbed the computer from me. "Jesus, do people do everything for you nowadays that you don't even know how to Facebook stalk someone anymore? I am so embarrassed to call you my brother right now. Ugh! Okay, so, Rose is probably a nickname."

I actually never thought of that. I guess it's a good thing that the women in my family are so pushy because I never know what the hell I'm doing.

"Okay. Names that have Rose in it. Think. Think. Think." She tapped her fingers on the keys a few times. She nodded her head. "Okay. I can only think of Rosalind, Rosa, Rosalie, or Rosemary."

I scrunch up my face again. "Ah. Those names are so old fashioned. I don't see Bel- I mean, I don't think she would be called – I mean, the girl's fifteen, sixteen. She's not really a Rosemary, you know what I mean?"

Alice turned toward me and stared into my eyes. "What the fuck are you doing searching for a sixteen year old?"

I groaned loudly and lay back against the bed. "Oh my god, why does everyone think I want to get with some teenager? Do I give off a sexual predator vibe or something?"

"No, it's just a bit random." She huffed. "Calm down."

I rolled my eyes with my eyes closed and counted to ten. "Okay try 'Rosalind'. That's a pretty name."

She agreed and types in 'Rosalind Swan' into the search bar.

"Okay. We have _many_ Rosalind Swansons. Oh here's one. Is this her?"

I look at a picture of a brunette woman in her late 50s and shake my head vigorously. "Uhhhh, no."

We went through a series of profiles, neither of them being the Rose Swan that I needed. Finally, Alice gave up,

"Okay. Obviously her name wasn't Rosalind. How about Rosalie?"

I scrunched up my face again. I honestly couldn't see this girl being named either of these names. But, then again she didn't look like a 'Rose' to me either. Alice began typing in the name into the search bar.

Instantly, I saw her.

"That's her!" I pointed at the screen. "Click on that one."

She double clicked on her picture and her profile opened. Alice clicked on her profile picture in order to enlarge the picture. I studied Rosalie's face trying to find similarities between the two of us.

"Go to the next picture."

Alice didn't click to the next picture and just stared at the picture. She said quietly, "Edward, who is this?"

I licked my lips and responded, "Just some girl."

"Rosalie… Swan. Swan?" She said really slowly. "This girl belongs to Bella?"

"Uh," I ran a hand through my hair. "Yes. And according to her birthday she's fifteen." I pointed at the date under her info.

Her hands flew to her face in shock. "Holy shit, Edward. _Holy_ shit!"

"Don't." I warned.

Alice looked at me, her eyes wide. "You think that maybe…"

I shrugged. "I don't know. Or that maybe she cheated on me and… I don't… I don't know."

Alice bit her lip and looked away from me quickly. She clicked to go back to her profile picture and clicked on the next picture. It was a picture of her and two other girls jumping into a pool. The caption read: 'Luh Ma Girlzzzz!" A typical teenager. Alice clicked on the next one and we froze. It was a picture of a younger Rose, maybe four or five. She was smiling very wide, almost as if she was in the middle of laughter hugging the leg of a very familiar, very tan man. It was captioned: #ThrowbackThursday

I felt my face heat up and my fists clenched. Alice quickly moved on throughout the album. It was just more pictures of her and her friends and finally there was one of her and Bella. Bella wasn't smiling. She looked slightly annoyed, flustered, and angry. Side by side their similarities were uncanny. At first, I didn't think she looked very much like Bella. But, I could see the similarities now. In their bone structure, in the shape of their mouths. They were both beautiful, but Rose was gorgeous.

Alice eyes started watering and she covered her face with her hands. "Oh, my god. Mistake. Mistakemistakemistakemistake. Big mistake."

I reached over and pulled her hands from her face and held them. Alice always had a big heart and I figured she was just feeling really emotional for me. I pulled her into a hug. "Alice, why are you crying? This isn't your problem. It's mine. Don't worry. I'll figure it out."

She didn't say anything, but she nodded into my chest. I let her go and smiled at her.

"Why don't we talk about you?" I suggested. I pushed her bang behind her ear. "How's the separation going?"

She let out a loud groan and threw her hands up in the air. "Eh, you know. Kids are handling it hard. Peter's handling the separation from the kids hard." She let out a deep breath and let out a watery, "I'm taking it hard."

I rubbed my hand across her back and sighed. "I'm sorry."

"They're making me out to be the bad guy! But, I'm not the bad guy here, ya know? Charlotte was my _best_ friend. We worked at the same elementary school. I mean, everyone who walks past me is always like 'Oh, poor little Alice. Her husband fooled around her back with her best friend for years and she never knew. She must be a terrible wife or maybe she wasn't doing her job right or – or –"

"Alice, no ones thinking that." I said quietly. I grab ahold of her face and force her to stare at me. "No ones thinking that."

"I mean, it's not my fault. I _had_ to move. I had to. I couldn't live in the same town as that – that woman."

I let go of her face and elbowed her in the ribs lightly. "Hey, the offer to beat his ass is still on the table."

She laughed lightly, her eyes teared up again, and kissed my cheek. "Thanks. I may take you up on that."

"So, what's the plan? Moving back to Seattle?"

She nodded and wiped at her eyes. "Yeah. Me and the kids are moving in with mom and dad until I can find a job somewhere."

I laughed loudly. She hid her face with both her hands. "I know. I'm pathetic." Her words were muffled.

"Oh, Al. You're making my job of looking like the best child _so_ easy."

"Fuck you." She got up and exited the room. I laughed behind her back. It seems everyone was telling me that today.

I turned my eyes back to the computer and stared at the picture of Rose and Bella. If Rosalie was mine, why would Bella neglect to tell me? And, why would she force me to miss out on all these years of Rose's life? Why did she feel like she couldn't tell me? Also, if Rose was mine, she got her singing from me. And, that made me smile.

I clicked back to the previous picture of Rose and Jacob Black. I stared at her features and tried to compare the two, but I was too blind with rage. If Bella cheated on me with Jacob Black and the result was a child, a child she never felt led to tell me about, I may actually hunt him down and kill him. How many times had I heard the phrase 'We're just friends' or 'He's like my brother'? I was making myself so angry my hands started shaking in fury. I exed out of the tab and closed my computer.

I was going to confront her about this tomorrow night at 8. She was going to give me some answers. And, although somewhere deep down inside of me I wanted Rose to be mine, I couldn't fight the feeling that maybe she wasn't. And, that hurt me more than I ever thought possible.

I laid down flat on the bed and put my head on the pillow. One thing stood out in my mind as I drifted off to sleep.

Her eyes were green.

.

BPOV.

"What do you want?"

Immediately upon walking into my apartment, I was greeted with firstly, a clean house – which I mean, I'm not a dirty slob or anything, but I have also don't see the harm in leaving a piece of paper on the floor until I have time to clean it up tomorrow… or the day after that. I walk into the kitchen and see a full spread out meal on the kitchen table.

Rose cooked dinner.

Rose cooked dinner and cleaned the apartment.

I opened the lid on table and the amazing smell of spaghetti hit my nostrils.

Rose cooked dinner, cleaned the apartment, _and_ made my favorite meal.

Rose wants something.

I immediately dropped the lid and stepped away from the bribe meal. Rose had walked into the room from behind me and began quietly, "Mom,"

"Nope." I crossed my arms and turned my back on both the bribe meal and my bribing daughter. I would remain strong.

"Mom, hear me out!" Rose whined.

"Rose," I whipped around toward her and also glanced quickly at the spaghetti. "I don't have any money!"

She laughed at me. "Mom, why are you acting like I'm a siren leading you to your death, or something? Sit down. Eat." She pulled out one of the seats at the table and stared up at me expectantly. I don't move. "Mommmm, sit down! _Please!_ Come on! Let me at least give you my pitch!"

I tilted my head to the side. Well, I couldn't see anything wrong with letting the girl give her speech. I sat down in the chair and she began scooping spaghetti onto my plate. She sat down across from me and smiled.

I took a bite of the food, closed my eyes and hummed. I opened my eyes. She looked extremely excited which was making me very suspicious.

I waved my hand at her. "Proceed."

"So, first I'd like to apologize."

My eyebrows shot up into my hairline, dropped my fork and crossed my arms. "For?"

"Yesterday." She at least had the gall to look like she felt bad. "I wasn't working on a project at Jessica's last night."

"Rosalie!" I let out a loud groan. "Do you think I _like_ not being able to trust you? Do you think its _fun_ for me to think that my sweet beautiful daughter has turned into a liar?"

She looked down at the table and bit her lip. If this was her "firstly" I did not want to hear what she was about to tell me. We didn't speak for two minutes. I started stabbing at my spaghetti.

"Well, Rosalie, hurry up. I have meeting in 3 hours."

She looked up at my quickly. "Who are you meeting at 8PM on a Friday night?" Her eyes started to sparkle. "Are you and Uncle J secretly dating?"

I glared at her and shoved more spaghetti in my mouth.

"Okay, so yesterday when I was off being your terrible, awful, "liar" daughter – "

"Rose – " I rolled my eyes and sighed.

"Let me finish. Yesterday I had a gig. At the Blue Lagoon."

I dropped my fork and pushed the spaghetti away from me. I stood up and started pacing back and forth throughout the kitchen. First of all, she lied. She had a gig! That place was no place for young teenage girls! And, the Blue Lagoon? That place was way to familiar for my liking.

"I know how you feel about music. I _know_. I mean, I don't get it. But, I know your feelings toward it."

And, now I'm screaming.

"Rosalie, if you know my feelings toward music then I'm confused as to why the hell you would betray me!?"

"Mom, _Ohmygod_, NO ONE'S _BETRAYING_ YOU!" She's screaming now too. "This is who I am, mom! This is what I want to do. And the fact that you're not behind me or supporting me is actually _you_ betraying me!"

"I'm being practical, Rosalie. You're not going to make any money doing this. You know how many people are out there on the streets, who are perfectly good singers, but didn't make it big? Hundreds! Thousands! You are not going to be one of those people!"

She doesn't speak for a full minute and I see her wipe at her eyes.

She spoke softly and quietly, "Yesterday, at the Blue Lagoon, Edward Cullen was there." I froze and clenched my fists. I was about to explode. If she dropped one more bomb, I was going to explode.

"What!"

"He loved me. He said I was great. That he'd never heard anyone with my voice before! That I could make it big! Big, mom! Big! Mom, Edward Cullen wants to help me. Edward Cullen believes in me."

That fucker! I placed my hands on my face and rested my elbows on the counter. I shook my head back and forth. _Oh, god._ It was happening all over again. I felt myself beginning to hyperventilate. Suddenly, she was behind me with her hands on my back, rubbing soothingly. Her hands were shaking.

"I have his manager's number. He said – He said all I had to do was get your permission and - "

I cleared my throat of tears. My voice was scratchy when I spoke, "Well, you don't have it."

She dropped her hands and gasped, "Mom!"

"No, Rose. You don't have my permission. You're not going anywhere. You're going to stop this. Right now." I felt her take many steps back and I turned to look at her. "Honey, I do believe in you. And, I believe in your dreams. And, I want what's best for you. But, I can't … "

She started crying and her crying made me cry and we were both a sobbing mess.

"I can't believe you don't support me." She said quietly.

"I support you. I do! Honey, I am your _biggest_ fan. It's because of this – I just…" I wipe at my face. "But, you _have_ to finish school. You _have_ to get an education because singing… _singing_ is not always gonna be there. I want to ensure that you have every opportunity to have the best life. And singing and screwing around and _sleeping_ around is not gonna get you there!" I felt my cheeks turn bright red. "You don't want to end up like me, do you?"

"What!" She screeched out, her face bright red. Her hands are balled tightly into fists. "There's nothing wrong with you, mom. What the hell are you talking about?"

I shake my head. I couldn't let this happen. Not again. "No! You're not doing it." She stared at me in disbelief. "When you're 18, you can do whatever the hell you want. But, right now, at 15, while you're under my roof, you're getting an education. End of discussion."

"But, mom – "

"End of discussion, Rosalie." I storm past her and out of the room.

I was going to kill Edward Cullen.

.

EPOV.

I was staring at the table, waiting for Bella. She was 15 minutes late and I was getting antsy. People kept staring at me and there was only so long before someone figured out who I was. Suddenly, my phone rang. I looked at the screen. It read: Bella Swan. She better not be bailing.

I answered it quickly.

"Hello,"

"Edward!" She sounded like she was crying.

"What is it? What's wrong?" I yelled, instantly becoming worried.

"I can't find her!" She gasped loudly. "I can't find her! I've looked everywhere!"

"What? Who? Bella, honey, calm down."

"Her suitcase isn't here, either." She let out a few quick sobs. "Edward, her suitcase is gone, too!"

"Bella, " I stated calmly, trying to get her to match my energy. "Stop. Bella, calm down. I can't understand you when you're speaking frantically."

"She left! She left and I don't know where she is! And, she took her suitcase, Edward! She took her suitcase! What if I never see her again?"

"Whoa, Bella. Calm down." I said. "Who are you never gonna see again?"

"Rosalie! My daughter! She left! She ran away! She – " She took a deep breath and started again. "We got into a fight. She was talking about singing. About leaving and dropping out of school and making it big and I... I can't – " There's a rustle and she exclaimed, "She took her toothbrush, too! Edward, she took her toothbrush! I don't – I don't think she's coming back!"

"Okay, calm down. Calm down. What were you fighting about?"

"Singing, Edward! Singing. She wants to fucking sing and I said no. She was talking about the Blue fucking Lagoon and… and you. She was talking about _you_!"

I bit my lip because I knew what was coming next.

"This is all your fault! You and your fucking singing has ruined everything! And, now I don't know where my daughter is! Edward, this is serious!"

"I know! I know how serious it is. But, also, she's sixteen. She'll be fine. We'll find her."

"She's still a child, Edward!" She started crying really hard. "I don't even know where to look. Seattle's _huge_. My baby's gone."

It was quiet for a full minute. We'd been talking for five minutes and walking right around the big problem.

"Bella," I said quietly.

"Yes,"

"Is she…" My voice broke and I rubbed my face and let out a sigh. "Is she…"

"Yeah. Yes." Her voice full of tears as she affirmed what I already knew to be true. "Yes, Edward. She's yours."

I let out a loud breath. I wanted to scream. I wanted to yell at her and ask her how she could be so inconsiderate. How she could keep something like this from me? How she could be so heartless and selfish? But, now wasn't the time.

I sighed and dropped my hand off my face. "Okay. I think I know where she is."

* * *

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	4. in which we make our way to Sea-Tac

_in which we make our way to Sea-Tac_

**BPOV.**

I'm driving as fast as I can to Sea-Tac Airport when my cell phone rings. I pick it up thinking it's Jake from when I frantically called him earlier and that maybe he has found Rosalie.

"Hello," I answer.

"Bella! Honey, how are you?"

I roll my eyes. It's Mike Newton, my on-again/off-again boyfriend. Currently, we're off-again. I do my best to clear my throat of any tears and anguish that it may be laced with.

"Mike, I really don't have time for this right now."

"Bella, what's wrong?"

"Rose ran away. I don't-I don't know where she is? And, I can't… can't talk about whatever the hell it is you want to talk about right now. So, it has to wait." I spit out quickly, cursing when I get stopped at another red light. A tear slides down my face and I flick it away with my free hand.

Mike is silent for a few seconds. "Where do you want me to look? I can help."

"That's okay. Someone told me where she might be, so I'm gonna go check there. Jake's already searching too and checking with all her friends."

The light finally turns green and I stomp my foot down on the gas pedal.

"Ah, of course. Jake to the rescue." He mumbles.

"Don't." I groan loudly, expressing to him that I'm annoyed he's attempting to bring up the Jake issue, the current reason for our off-again status. Because, honestly, not the time. "I don't have time for this, Mike. I have to go."

"Fine. Call me if you don't find her wherever you're going."

I nod even though he can't see that through the phone. I let out a watery, "Okay."

"Bella," He says softly. "You're going to find her and it's going to be okay. Now hang up and pay attention to the road."

I do as he says and continue driving.

.

After pulling up to the airport, fighting with a police officer for a good five minutes begging him to let me keep my car in the loading area because my 15 year old daughter is trying to run away to New York and I don't have time to park my car all the way over in the parking deck which is miles away because whatever plane she's on my take off, charging a flight to wherever the fuck was the cheapest to my credit card, running through the terminals searching for one that was heading to New York, I finally see her.

She's pacing back and forth and she doesn't know it, but I'm about to kill her. But, first I'm just so happy she's okay. I run up to her from behind and yank her to my chest, wrapping her in a fierce hug. At first she freaks out, naturally because she didn't know who I was at first and then she wraps her arms around me as well. I let go of her and I want to scream at her. I want to yell at her for being such an idiot, for causing me to almost have a panic attack, for the pain she inflicted on me for 3 long hours. I also want to cry, to apologize for not being as supportive as I should, for making her feel like she needs to runaway to accomplish her dreams.

Instead, I just sigh disappointedly. At her and myself.

"Let's get something to eat." She looks at me surprised and then follows after me.

When we arrive at a cafe inside the airport, Rose heads toward the bathroom to fix her face. She cried the whole way here. While she's gone, I pull out my phone to text Jake and let him know I found her. While I'm doing that, my phone rings. I look at it before I answer this time. It's Edward.

"Hello,"

"You find her?" He asks quickly.

"Yes, thank you." I am truly grateful, although, I kind of want to put some blame on him as well.

"What happened?"

I sigh and run my hand through my hair. "We haven't spoken yet."

"At all?"

I shake my head as I answer, "No. I don't even know where to start. We stopped by Lion's Cafe in the airport because when I'm angry I get hungry."

He laughs softly. "I remember."

Rosalie exits the bathroom and I rush to get off the phone. "Okay, well, I have to go. We can… talk later."

"But, Bella - "

I hang up on him as Rosalie sits down. She looks at me sadly. She knows she's in deep shit.

She asks quietly, "Who was that?"

"Uhhh, Jake." I'm a terrible liar. She winces and frowns. "I should warn you. He's pretty angry."

She nods acceptingly and asks stupidly, "Are _you _angry?"

I laugh loudly and scowl at her.

"It's like…" I let out a loud breath of air. "It's like I'm not sure if I'm just that bad of a mother or you actually slightly despise me or if -"

"No, mom. You're great. You are. You're doing the best you can with someone as difficult as me."

"Am I?" I pick up the menu and pretend to look at it. Tears form in my eyes and my throat clogs. "Because single mothers raise kids all the time and theirs don't run away to New York and lie so much to the point where they don't believe a single fucking word that comes out of their daughters' mouths. So, it has to be me. I have to have done something wrong."

Rosalie starts breathing loudly and shouts, "No! I swear. It's me. I love you, mom. You've done a great job. I'm just so - so fucking impulsive and annoying. The whole time I was doing it I knew - I mean, I _knew _I was being an idiot. But, by then I felt like I had to finish on principle. I just… I was so upset and so hurt I - "

"Rose, you're 15! Sometimes I'm gonna say and do things that you won't like. And, that sucks, but it's part of being a teenager and you need to just deal with it." The waiter comes by, but I hold up my hand so he doesn't interrupt my lecture. He pauses and walks away. "It means that sometimes you don't know what's best for you and an adult has to make decisions for you. And, maybe I won't always know what's best for you but the right thing to do would be for us to sit down together and talk out our options not for you to run off like some brat and make decisions for this family on your own."

She nods her head in agreement. "I'm so sorry. I just - I just feel like - I feel like you don't understand how important my music is to me."

I lick my lips and clear my throat. "I understand, Rosalie. I'm not saying you can't be a musician. I'm saying..." I shake my head. "All I ever wanted to be was a musician and I didn't prepare myself for anything else. And when I found out about - when suddenly that wasn't an option any more, I had no skills and no job prospects because I couldn't do anything other than play that goddamn instrument. I don't want that for you."

She looks me in the eye and I think she's finally beginning to see where I'm coming from.

"You never told me that before."

I shrug my shoulders and sigh. "I'm telling you now."

She smiles at me and reaches over to give me a hug. "You're just looking out for me. You want what's best for me." She says this with a surprised voice.

I hug her back tightly. "Of course, I do, Rose. What did you think?"

"Well, Jessica said that… well, _we _thought that maybe you just didn't want to be alone. And that maybe you were holding me back because you didn't want me to succeed because… you… didn't. Oh my god. That sounds so stupid."

I'm not gonna lie. It kind of stung that she could think something like that about me. I pulled back from the hug and frowned at the table.

"Oh my god, mom." She grabs my wrist tightly.

I look up at her quickly. "What?"

"It's Edward Cullen. What are the odds? Mom, look, he's headed this way. He remembers me! Oh my god."

And all I'm thinking is, _Holyshitfuckmylifewhatthehellkillme_.

.

**EPOV.**

"Oh my god! Edward! What a coincidence!" She smiles a broad smile, waves, and ushers me to sit down. I sit as she says, "This is my mom, Isabella Swan. Mom, this is Edward. Edward _Cullen_." She smiles largely over at Bella, bouncing slightly in her seat.

Bella glares at me. She bites her lip and taps her fingers on the table nervously. "Hi."

"Ah yes," I say, smirking at Bella. "The one with the interesting sense of humor."

Rose laughs softly and Bella pulls her eyebrows together in confusion.

"My mom works over at ARO, you know that company that does, like, everything."

I purse my lips and look at Bella. "Oh, really."

Bella opens her mouth, but Rose answers for her. "Yeah, but, she's really actually this secretly _amazingly _talented musician. She can play the violin like no one in this world. It's where I get my mad guitar skills from, I swear." Bella averts her eyes and looks down at her hands on the table. Rose continues, "You know, she was all set to go to Juilliard and whatnot but then, I guess, she found out about me and had some huge fallout with her boyfriend and had to stay in Seattle. She hardly ever plays anymore. I think I've heard her play, like, 3 times in the past 2 years."

"Is that so?" I frown at this. That can't be true. The Bella I knew was so obsessed with her violin that it was almost as if it were glued to her hand.

"Thanks for giving him my entire life story, Rosalie!" She says sarcastically and glares at Rose. "Sorry, I think Rose is so excited to be in front of you that she's literally unable to shut up."

Rose shrugs. I give a quick laugh. "That's alright, Bella. I'm used to it. Although, I can't believe you gave up the violin. A gift like that shouldn't go unused."

She rolls her eyes. "I didn't _give up_ the violin."

"Oh yeah?" I tilt my head as I accuse, "Well then, when's the last time you played?"

"I have other responsibilities, Edward." She says sharply, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"If it's important enough to you, you'd make it a responsibility."

"Yes, well, I know how much you believe that. But, I have other things that are _slightly _more important to me now. Like, paying bills and making sure Rosalie doesn't die. You probably don't understand anything about that." She narrows her eyes at me. "But, thanks for the condescension, superstar."

"Whoa." Rose cuts in before I have a chance to respond. "Why the hell do I feel like you two know each other?" She looks between the two of us quickly. "Do you two know each other? And, how did you know she went by Bella?"

"Uh… I… I-I… Um… See - " Bella stammers all over the place, trying to come up with a lie. It's clear she doesn't want Rosalie to know I'm her father yet, and since we haven't even had a chance to talk about amongst ourselves, I figured that was best for now. So, I lie.

"Your mother saw the business card I gave you on the floor in your room and called my manager, who called me, and I called your mom." Bella looks over at me gratefully. I look back at Rosalie and say, "She was really worried about you."

"Damn, I didn't even realize I had left that card in my room. I could've sworn it was in my purse right now. Weird."

Bella laughs nervously. "Yeah, weir-"

"Rose, what the _fuck_!" Jacob Black comes running up to the table (out of fucking nowhere) and yanks Rose up from her seat and crushes her to his chest, wrapping her into a tight hug. He has gotten huge over the years. He wasn't scrawny when we were younger, but he wasn't this buff muscle man standing in front of me right now. His hair is a disheveled mess, he's wearing sleep pants and a wife beater, and his face is flushed. He looks like… like a worried parent. "You scared the living fuck out of your mother and me! Don't you ever do that again! Do you hear me?"

"I hear you! I won't!" She actually has the decency to look somewhat sorry. "I'm sorry. I was just, you know, following my dreams, or whatever."

"There's following your dreams and there's being a fucking idiot. I think you're confusing the two." He pulls back and continues yelling, "I mean, what the hell were you gonna do when you got there? You don't have enough money to call a cab or to pay for a hotel room! You probably spent all your goddamn money on that plane ticket! What were you gonna do? I mean, what the _hell _were you gonna do? Sleep on the streets? Eat spiders?"

Rose eyes start watering. "I don't know. I hadn't thought - "

"Exactly. You didn't _think_ about anything! You didn't think about me or your mother and how we would feel! All you thought about was getting back at your mother and making her feel like shit, which frankly I have had enough of. This bullshit teenage-bitch phase needs to end. Today. I'm serious, Rose. I don't know where the hell you get this from. We didn't raise you like this."

"I'm sorry." She says in a small voice. "Uncle J, I promise, I'm not trying to be a bitch. I swear."

"Ya sure? Because this is the 2nd time in three days that your mom has called me -_sobbing_ - about some stupid shit that you've pulled. And I - "

Rose breaks into tears, breaks from Jacob's grasp and runs off. He looks like he's about to go after her, but Bella interrupts him.

"Jake," When she catches his eyes, looks pointedly at me.

All the fire in his eyes deflates and he lets out a huff. "Oh shit." He runs a hand over his face and sighs. "Cullen."

I glare at him, refusing to lift my hand to shake his. Not that he offered his either. "Black."

Bella interrupts our little hatred fest. "Jake, could you…" She trails off but looks in the direction of where Rose ran off. He rolls his eyes, but turns and leaves.

We sit in silence for a few seconds and Bella starts tapping her nails on the table again.

I open my mouth and say the first thing that I can think of. "Those were my lines."

She looks up at me in confusion. She scrunches up her forehead. "What?"

"Those are my lines. Everything that he just said. The yelling, the 'don't talk back to your mother', the anger, the-the-the _relief_. Everything that he just screamed at her - because it is just so _evident _that he loves her and he was scared. Those were my lines." Tears start gathering in my eyes and a lump began to grow in my throat. I look at her and just shrug, running out of ways to convey my emotions to her. "And, it is just so unfair that he gets to say those things and I don't."

Tears began streaming down her cheeks. She opens her mouth but nothing comes out. She shrugs her shoulder a few times before saying, "I don't know what to say. I don't know what to - to tell you."

"Tell me how you could have kept something like this from me." My throat was burning as I fought the urge not to cry. "Tell me how you could have broken up with me, basically forced me to go to that meeting in New York knowing the whole time you were pregnant with our baby. Tell me anything that's gonna make this okay."

Bella swipes at the tears on her cheek and jumps out of her chair. "I have to go. My daughter needs me right now and I need to use up all my energy on coming up with some insane punishment so I can't do this right now."

"Bella," I grab her wrist to keep her from moving. I'm so angry that she doesn't have enough consideration for me to even give me an explanation, I'm seeing red. "You owe me an explanation. You owe me _at least_ five minutes of your fucking precious time."

Her eyes flicker past me nervously. I look over to see Jacob Black and Rosalie walking back to the table. Rosalie has her eyebrows raised in confusion and I let go of Bella's wrist.

"Call me, tomorrow." She says quickly and stomps off. I hear her tell Rosalie they're leaving.

Rosalie whines, "But, mom, Edward Cull-"

"Really, Rose? You want to argue with me right now? Right now? Right now you want to argue with me?"

Rose shakes her head. And then they're walking away.

Bella walks away, again, with _my_ daughter and Jacob Black by her side.

She better have a damn good explanation.

.

**BPOV.**

"Can we talk about the elephant in the room, please?" Rose blurts out after 15 minutes of a silent car ride.

Jake and I both roll our eyes because we both know whatever was about to come out of Rose's mouth would be ridiculous, insane or both.

"Uh, are you referring to the enormous punishment you're in for? 'Cause that was looming over me too." Jake jokes, but not really, because she is most _definitely _receiving the punishment of a lifetime.

I let out a quick scoff and laugh. "Ah, yes. I would like to acknowledge that too. I was thinking something along the lines of… capital punishment. What were your thoughts on that, Jakey?"

"I was thinking life in prison with no chance of parole, but your idea of capital punishment does have a nice ring to it."

She groans as we both laugh.

"Oh, maybe she's referring to the $200 she owes me for the plane ticket I had to buy to get to the terminals?"

"Psh. $200?" Jake scoffs. "She owes me $350 for the same thing."

I can just hear her rolling her eyes in the backseat. "I was _referring _to the mad sexual tension between mom and Edward Cullen. I mean, Edward Cullen! It was unreal. Un. Real. Like, I think he wants you, mom. Like, wants you-wants you." She claps her hands together. "I can't wait to call Jess and tell her all about it."

I give her a quick side eye. "On what phone?"

She looks at me like I'm an idiot. "My cell phone?"

I laugh. "You mean, the phone that's getting taken away from you the very minute we get out of this car?"

She stomps her foot half-heartedly and throws her neck back and wails, "Mom!"

"Please, Rose," Jake states, rubbing a hand over his forehead and turning the steering wheel of my car with his other hand. "Your new lack of cellphone is the very _least _of your problems right now."

My eyes widen and I give him a quick punch to the thigh and he groans. "Not even what I was talking about."

"Oh," I look over at him apologetically and mutter, "Sorry."

Jake rolls his eyes and then adds, "And can you please never say the words 'sexual tension' ever again? You're gonna give me a heart attack, honey."

Rosalie interjects, "Um, can we get back to the fact that Edward Cullen might be my new step-daddy?!"

I groan loudly and cover my face because I know that it is burning red right now. Jake laughs loudly at my side and all I can think is, _Holyshitfuckmylifewhatthehellkillme_.

* * *

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	5. IW I decide to make my eyes into a perso

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**Okay, now, I'm done.**

* * *

…_in which I decide to make my eyes into a personal water fountain_

"I don't want to hear it anymore, Jake. I'm being really serious. Shut the fuck up." I push my cart away from him and continue down the aisle, studiously ignoring the vibrations coming out of my purse.

Jake continues talking anyway. "Bella, I'm being serious. You need to tell her. And soon. If she finds out from someone else – "

I stop abruptly and turn to glare at him. "How the _hell_ is she gonna find out from someone else, Jake? You, me, and Edward are the only three people who know. So, unless you plan on ruining my life and our friendship…" I rub my cheek and inwardly roll my eyes at my phone which is still buzzing like crazy. "I mean, I'm gonna tell her. Today. I promise, okay? I'm just trying to figure out what the best way is to tell someone that you've been lying to them for their whole life and that you're an asshole without completing obliterating our entire relationship."

"Look," Jake grabs me by the face. "Rose loves you more than anything in the entire world. She knows and she can see that you've given up your entire world for her. She's gonna be pissed. Yes. And, then she's gonna get over it. I know her and I know you. You can do this." He gives me a hard kiss on the forehead and hugs me to him.

I bite my lip and rub my stomach. "I just don't have a good feeling about it, is all."

Jake laughs softly. "Well, maybe we can change that with some Subway."

I laugh. "Oh, that sounds amazing." My phone buzzes to life again.

"Jesus Christ!" Jake curses, looking over at my purse. "Who the hell has been calling you for the past half hour?"

"Bleh!" I groan. "Mike. He wants to get back together. I mean, he's made it very clear that he wants to get back together." Jake's face remains neutral and he shifts his attention to the cereal on our left.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. It's just, you know, really bad timing, you know? Dating is the last thing on my mind right now. I just don't have time for it. I mean, Rosalie – "

"Rosalie is big girl. She doesn't need your attention 24 hours a day anymore. And, you know that. So stop hiding behind that excuse." He selects Honey Nut Cheerios, throws it into his cart and quickly continues down the aisle.

What the fuck was up his ass?

.

Jake and I are at my kitchen table casually eating our subway when Rosalie runs into the apartment screaming.

"Oh my gawdddddd! Mom! Mom! Mom! Mom! Mommmm!"

Jake and I roll our eyes in unison. This is the fastest Rosalie has ever come home from school. I take a bite of sub and shout with my mouth full, "Wuh?"

Rose comes flying in the kitchen from around the corner. She just stands there smiling wide.

"What, Rose?" Jake laughs. Of course, he is eating his cookies before even thinking about eating his sub. I roll my eyes at him.

"OMG, Mom. OMG."

"_OMG, Bells. OMG."_ Jake mocks, stuffing another cookie in his mouth.

Rose slams her backpack down on the kitchen table and starts rummaging through it. She pulls out a magazine, flips to a page, and holds it out to us. Right there on page 15 of some random local Seattle magazine is a picture of me! Well, a picture of me and Edward. But, I'm there, too. My eyes widen. I snatch the tabloid from her and look more closely. The picture was taken right before I left him at the music studio a couple of days ago because he has his hand on my wrist trying to stop me from moving and I'm glaring at him. You can't tell where we are, which _ThankGod!_ because I did not want to have to explain to Rose why we had met previously and I hadn't told her. Not yet, anyway. The picture is captioned: Edward Cullen out and about in Seattle with mystery girl.

Gross. Definitely not one of my most attractive photos. I chuck the magazine over at Jake.

"You are not gonna _believe _how incredibly your life's about to change, Mom!" She lets out a squeal.

"Honey, calm down. It's just a tabloid. From, like, 3 days ago." I scoff dismissively, but secretly I'm doing everything in my power to keep my face from turning bright red.

"Mother, this is just the beginning! Edward is gonna look at this picture and be, like, 'Wow. Damn. That Bella woman and I sure do look awesome together. And, she's really hot! Look at those tits. I should give her a call.'" Rose imitates Edward's broody voice and makes a bunch of sexual gestures with her hands. I frown at her. Teenagers. Everything is about sex to them. "And _then _you'll get married, he'll be even more willing to help me with my singing career and then we'll all live happily ever after."

Jake laughs at my side, wiping crumbs off his face with the back of his hand. "I think you got yourself a pimp, Bell."

I playfully glare at Rose and throw a hand across my heart. "I can't believe my own daughter is trying to pimp me out for her own success and fame. Who have you become?" I look over at Jake and cry out, "What have they done with our Rose?!"

We both laugh; however, Rosalie is having none of our nonsense. I don't even really think she heard anything we said. She continues to stand in front of us with a thoughtful look on her face. Suddenly, she lets out a squeal. "Idea!" She sits down at the table and looks at us seriously. "Let's google you. If you show up on google you are _officially _relevant. Like, a somebody, Mom!"

Jake smirks and looks at me smugly. He bumps me with his elbow. "Did you hear that Bells? Up until now you were completely and totally worthless."

I shoved his shoulder and glared. "Bite me!" Jake playfully growls at me, tearing into the sub in his hands like an animal. I laugh as I shove him again.

Rosalie squeals and squirms in her seat. "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" She was silent for a moment then she said. "Okay. Here's a link titled "Mystery girl revealed" on Perez Hilton. OMG, Mom, I can't believe you made it on Perez Hilton!" I have no clue what that is but it seems very important to Rosalie, so I give her a cheery thumbs up. She then whispers to herself, "What the _hell_? How long have these pictures been out? I hadn't even noticed. These stupid groundings are ruining my life!"

"Ah, then it's working." I take another bite of my sub as she begins to read.

"The last three days we've reported news of Edward Cullen being seen around Seattle with a new mystery girl. They've been seen everywhere from a low-key record store in downtown Seattle to busy Sea-Tac just last night. This ordinarily wouldn't be news; however, Edward Cullen is almost NEVER shown with the same woman more than once! We've been sitting back, twiddling our thumbs, trying our hardest to figure out who this mystery woman was.

"As it turns out Edward's "new girl" is not as new as she might seem." Rosalie pauses for a minute. My eyes widen and I almost have a heart-attack.

"Rose, turn it off."

She keeps reading but with a slightly less-perky tone. "According to an old friend, the two were the _definition _of high school sweethearts - " I jumped out of my chair and attempted to slam her laptop closed.

"Rosalie! Turn. It. Off."

She stands up and continues reading while attempting to dodge me. "- dating all the way up until - _MOM!_ _STOP!_ - graduation. After all these years, looks like these two sweethearts are all set to do some rekindling of their old flames."

I slam the laptop closed and grab it from her. I slide it over to Jake and he holds it hostage.

"Mom. Is this...?" I start breathing heavily, praying to God she doesn't put together the pieces before I have a chance to tell her myself. She covers her mouth with her hand before she lets out in disbelief, "Oh my gawd! Edward FUCKING Cullen?!"

I swallow loudly as she continues to freak out.

"You _dated _Edward FUCKING Cullen!" She shakes her head back and forth, laughing hysterically. "No. _No_. Is this a joke? This is a fucking joke, right? Tell me the fact that this blog post that says you dated the man who's poster has been on my effing wall for the past six years is a joke!"

Jake laughs nervously from behind me. He murmurs under his breath, but still loudly enough to be heard. "Heh. No joking going on over here."

I whip around and glare at him. Is he trying to ruin my life? "Yes, thank you, Jacob. You input is both unwanted and unnecessary."

He holds his hands up in surrender and shakes his head in an "I told you so" kind of way. I want to punch him so bad.

"WHAT. THE. FUCK. Why is my mother cooler than me?" Rosalie screams and throws her head against the kitchen counter. Always the drama queen. "You _knew _how much I idolized him. I've kissed that poster maybe agajillion times and…" She pulls her head up suddenly and I think this is it. I brace myself for shame and anger, but what she shouts out leaves me totally blindsided. "OMG, Mom. OMG. Tell me you didn't… you didn't - did you _sleep _with him?"

Jake bursts out laughing. I whip back around again to glare at him and he tries to hide his laughter with the laptop, but he doesn't get any quieter. I turn bright red and let out a, "Eruhh."

"Oh, my gawddddd. Why do I feel so betrayed right now? By my own mother! This is just sur. real." Rosalie stands there with both her hands on her cheeks in shock. She lets out a tiny laugh. "And you had the _nerve _to try and yell at me about having sex while I was in high school when you were in high school doing the same damn thing!" She continues in a mocking tone, shaking her pointer finger at me. "'Sex is for grown ups, _Rosalie_. Sex leads to diseases, _Rosalie_. Sex leads to unplanned pregnan-"

Jake stops laughing behind me and slowly lowers the laptop. His eyes are probably as wide as mine. Rosalie slowly lowers her fingers and stares at the countertop silently. She's literally frozen, but it's not that that freaks me out. It's that she hasn't said a single word.

I take a cautious step toward her. "Rosalie,"

"Oh. My. God." She says quietly and slowly. But, not angrily. So I know she's pissed.

"Listen, Rose," I quickly rush out an excuse in an attempt to salvage our relationship. Unfortunately I do so while sobbing uncontrollably. "I was planning on telling you today. I _swear_. Honey… I don't - I mean, I… I was try - It's like… There's so much you don't -" I begin to slowly hyperventilate at the fact that she hasn't tried to interrupt me once and I gave her ample opportunity. Jake is immediately at my side, rubbing my back soothingly. My support system. My rock. I place my hand on her cheek. "Baby, what can I do to make this okay?"

She ignores me and looks over at Jake, tears brimming her eyes. She whispers quietly, "You knew about this?"

His hand pauses and he stammers, "I-I-I-"

She nods tersely once. Betrayal is written all over her face. Shit, why am I such an idiot!

She stands. "I'm going to my room."

I let out a quick sob, "No, honey. Let's talk about this."

She looks at me so disappointedly, in a way that makes me want to light myself on fire. "_Why_ would I do that? You couldn't find it in yourself to find a _single _minute, a single _second_, in the past almost 16 years to talk to me about the _one thing_ you knew I wanted to know more than anything else in the world."

"Rose," I cry, grasping at thin air. I can feel myself losing her. I can almost see the walls she was building posting in front of her like a fence.

"And you _still_ haven't really told me. I found out from a fucking gossip blog." She runs a hand through her hair in an eerily similar fashion. "I found out who my father was from fucking Perez Hilton and not my mother. How is that okay?"

The way she was looking at me with such hatred in her eyes literally caused a pain in my chest. I placed a hand on my chest attempting to calm my heart. "You don't understand - "

"What don't I understand?" She said coldly, holding out her hands in question. She had yet to raise her voice above a whisper and it was really beginning to freak me the fuck out. "Please help me understand this. I mean, like... does he know? At Blue Lagoon the other day, is that why he came up to me? Is that why he offered to help me? Because he felt guilty? Because he - " Her voice became scratchy as it became clear she was fighting tears off.

I wipe at my face and grasp at Jake's hand, which had found its way in mine. "No, honey, he found out yesterday. He came up to you because he thought you were talented. I promise."

"He didn't know this whole time?"

I shake my head. Tears were running down my face at a fast pace and I just couldn't seem to get my mouth to form any words that would validate my keeping this secret from her. We hold eye contact with each for exactly two minutes before she shakes her head, whispering, "You are such a bitch."

"Now, Rosalie," Jacob steps out from behind me. "She is still your mother."

"No, Uncle J, this is… I don't… I hate you so much right now, Mom. Like, I can't even explain the emotions I'm feeling right now. It's too much."

She shakes her head back and forth and I let out sob.

"I'm sorry."

Suddenly, she's screaming. "I defended you! What's fucked up is that I defended you!"

I scrunch up my eyebrows, confused at her statement.

She continued, crying so hard we could barely understand her. "Anytime – _every_ time someone questioned why I didn't know the _name_ of my father, questioned why you wouldn't tell me something like that, questioned why you would keep something like that from me, I _defended_ you! I told them," She wipes tears off her cheek and continues shakily, "I told them my mother would _never_ keep something like this from me if it wasn't absolutely necessary. Maybe he was an asshole. Maybe he was abusive. M-maybe he caused her-her so much pain that she was doing everything in her power to-to-to make sure I never had to experience that because she's my _mother_ and she loves me. And, she always has my best interests in mind."

She covers her eyes with her left hand and cries. She slinks down to the floor, pulls her knees up and continues to cry loudly. I immediately bend down next to her and hug her knees to my chest and I place my head on her kneecaps.

"Baby, I'm so, so sorry. I'm _so_ sorry. I'm such an idiot. Please forgive me. I'm so sorry." I apologize over and over. "I screwed up. I screwed up. _IscrewedupIscrewedupIscrewedup_. I'm sorry! I'll never lie to you again." My tears soak her jeans as we continue to sob on the floor.

Ten minutes later when she's all cried out, she pulls away from me, stands up and walks straight out of the room.

"Rose, I – "

I'm answered with a slam of her door and I fall apart. Jake is suddenly behind me, pulling me into his arms as I sob into his chest.

With all the tantrums and mood swings and just being the plain bitch that Rosalie is sometimes, she's never told me she hated me. Not even once.

.

Even though I was emotionally drained out of my mind, Edward demands we meet up tonight. I text him my address and tell him he can come over to my apartment. I don't bother trying to tidy up because I don't think I want to impress him. I'm pretty sure he already hates me anyway. Everybody hates me today.

Ten minutes later, there's a knock on the door. I quickly wipe all tears an fan my face to calm myself down. I walk over and swing the door open. Edward's standing there looking like he just walked out of a fucking GQ magazine with the most gorgeous, well-fitted black suit I've ever seen in person.

I let out a huge breath. "Hi."

"Hi."

I step aside and motion with my arm. "Come in."

He walks in and looks around my shit hole. I cringe when his eyes lock on a pile of old pizza boxes in the corner. He looks back at me. "Is Rosalie here?"

I shake my head slowly and lead us to the living room so we can sit on the couch. "No, she's at Jake's. Probably for the night."

"Ah, her replacement father." He says sarcastically, sitting down across from me. "No wonder you invited me over."

I roll my eyes. "No, that's not even… No." I swallow thickly. "She found out about us from a tabloid. She put it together. I just… there was a huge blow out and I don't – I don't know if our relationship is reparable, you know?" My eyes water and I bite my lip in defiance. I will not cry anymore tonight.

Edward does not look sympathetic. He shrugs his shoulders. "Well, when you don't think about the consequences of your actions and how they affect other people this is what happens."

I cover my face with my hands and shake my head back and forth.

"Listen, Bella," I remove my hands from my face and look him in the eye. His face has hardened impossibly more and he's giving me a cold, hard look. "You're an idiot and I'm really pissed at you. And, I don't understand how you could have let me go to New York without telling me you were pregnant. And, I can't get past the fact the fact that you lied."

I stomp my fist on the coffee table between us. "I did not know I was pregnant until two months after you had left."

"Well, why didn't you call me?"

"Because your mother, she… you know what, no. I'm not going back there right now."

He stood up. "And, you know what? It doesn't matter. I just came here to say something."

I look up expectantly, holding my breath. I had a feeling he was about to lay into me like Rose had earlier. He licks his lips, squares his shoulders, and states, "I want Rosalie for the summer."

I let out a short, humorless laugh. I assume he's kidding because that's the biggest joke I have ever heard in my life.

Edward does not find my finding humor in this situation funny and says angrily, "I'm being serious."

"What! No. _No_. Ha! No." I stand up as well and cross my arms over my best defiantly. "Don't be ridiculous, Edward. You haven't spent more than 5 minutes with her."

"And, whose fault is that?"

I disregard the truth in that sentence and shake my head fiercely. My heart starts aching and I grab at my chest. "She doesn't even – she doesn't even know you! Edward, don't -"

"Well, we'll take this summer to get to know each other. I'm in the middle of writing a new album, I have down time. This is the perfect chance -"

"I'm not gonna send my fifteen year old daughter off to New York, a place that is thousands of miles away from me, with some man she does not even know. Who probably won't be around all the time… That is not happening. At all. I am sorry, Edward Cullen. But, no."

"Bella – "

I interrupt, grasping for reasons out of the air, doing everything I can to keep my daughter when I feel like the possibility of her slipping away from me is so very, very real. "SECONDLY, you are a terrible role model. Your image is that you sleep with a different girl every week, that you're basically a whore. Rose is already pretty flighty I don't need you influencing her to sign herself up for a life of STDs. No, thank you."

"I'll keep the sleepovers to a minimum while she's there."

"Edward," I laugh, shaking my head. "No."

Edward's face turns red with anger and his bright green eyes pierce into mine. "Bella, she's my daughter, too. I deserve the chance to get to know her."

"I know! I know you do. You are absolutely correct. And I want you guys to develop a relationship. And, I am sorry for the pain I have caused you and Rosalie. But she is my daughter and she is not going to New York with you for three months. Absolutely not. Over my dead body. I am her mother and I am saying no."

Edward grabs the nearest thing to him (a vase from Walmart that probably cost two dollars) and throws it against the wall. Glass shatters everywhere as I slowly back away from him. I have never seen him so pissed off.

"Edward!" My eyes water. "You're scaring me."

He looks at the vase and says softly, "I'm sorry. That was out of line. But, Bella, if you don't do this _very_ small thing for me, I'm going to pull down the courts over you so hard you won't even have time to blink. And, just to let you know, I'm a _very _public figure." He threatens. My eyes widen as I realize how much I might lose. How much my life is about to be turned upside so unrecognizably. He's backed me into the wall and is so close to me that his nose is centimeters away from my own. He laughs darkly. "And, who knows? By the end of it I might even gain full custody and she might even be living with me on a permanent basis."

I throw a hand over her heart and gasp loudly. I'm not sure if he's serious or if that's an empty threat, but it literally breaks my heart in two. Tears immediately fell down my cheeks and I shove him with both of my hands as hard as I can. "You wouldn't _dare_ take my daughter away from me." I shove him again. I'm so angry, I'm seeing red. I attempt to slap him across the face, but he grabs my wrist.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did you not take _my _daughter away from _me_?" He shakes his head at me disgustedly. He drops my hand and backs away from me. Hurt heavy in his eyes, he runs a hand through his hair.

"So, what? This is your way of getting back at me? Are you trying to hurt me on purpose?" I let a few dry sobs and look at the man in front of me. With the anger in his eyes, he looks completely different than the Edward Cullen I knew. And, I did this to him. "Look, I may not be the best mother in the whole world, okay? But, I love Rosalie with my whole heart. She is my everything. I just don't want to lose her."

He points his finger at me and shouts loudly, "You did something wrong, Bella! You don't just get to cry and get a fucking pass on this! Your actions have very real consequences." He comes back into my personal space and whispers sarcastically, "And you know what? It might have just cost you everything."

And, just like that my whole world came crumbling down.

* * *

**yikes! no bueno for Bella! Bella's in a huge pile of dookie. And, don't hate Edward for the yelling. He deserves the right to be a little pissed off, don't ya think? **

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